Han Solo (Stormtrooper Disguise) - TBS [P2] - Six Inch Figures (#09)

Han Solo disguises himself in the stormtrooper armor after the Millennium Falcon is forced to land on the Death Star battle station.

"Bring 'em on. I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around."

The reuse of the fabulous The Black Series 6” Sandtrooper (#03) figure was inevitable. Hasbro quickly utilized it to make the Stormtrooper (#09) figure. And then a little while after that it was used to produce the Stormtrooper Commander from the Imperial Shadow Squadron TARGET exclusive set. It is time once again to amortize tooling costs so Hasbro has added Han Solo (Stormtrooper Disguise) into The Black Series 6” lineup and we’re quite pleased to say that we’re impressed with it. New tooling was required, and per Hasbro Luke Skywalker (Stormtrooper Disguise) has even more aggressive tooling additions, but Han Solo (Stormtrooper Disguise) should be one of the highlights in the line. That is saying a great deal for a “simple” retool. But Han Solo not only has a fantastic heads sculpt, Hasbro also tooled a perfectly scaled collar to cover up the wonky articulation underneath while recreating a screen accurate part of the costume at the same time. This perfectly fitted ring lays loosely around Han Solo’s neck, but stays in place rather wonderfully. The new parts here will certainly please even the pickiest collectors. Because Hasbro is taller than Luke Skywalker and comparably (but not exactly) a similar size to a standard Stormtrooper, this figure works extremely well with the parts Hasbro already had tooled to make it. As you know, Hasbro tweaked the Luke Skywalker (Stormtrooper Disguise) body to appear “a little short for a Stormtrooper.”

Obviously, Han Solo (Stormtrooper Disguise) doesn’t break much new ground. But it really doesn’t have to because the plain Stormtrooper (#09) is pretty awesome on its own despite receiving overtly negative criticisms for things we find trivial. The overall screen accurate armor and well-defined painted details all look fantastic on the Stormtrooper figure and they’ve been carried forward beautifully for Han Solo (Stomtrooper Disguise) as well. The one issue we have with Han Solo (Stomtrooper Disguise) is his oversized removable Stormtrooper helmet. Granted, it could be a lot worse, but when will Hasbro realize that two removable portraits: one helmeted and one non-helmeted are best for a collectors’ range of 6” figures (and even 3.75” figures). To accommodate for high or flyaway hair skews the appropriate scale of the helmet. As we all know from The Vintage Collection, Hasbro kept utilizing the oversized buckets on the clone troopers despite the incessant begging by fans to have them update the removable helmets. We hope that this trend doesn’t continue in The Black Series line. We’re happy to report that at most angles Han Solo’s helmet doesn’t look all that bad. It’s been decorated differently than the plain Stormtrooper’s and has also been cast in what we’re calling a different type of plastic. It’s thinner and “less stable” for lack of a better description and is a tad too big for our preferences.

Let us take some time to reiterate the positives of this tooling. The Sandtrooper/Stormtrooper body can be posed almost any way you desire. We literally could achieve one awesome action pose after another. And the figure has an equally satisfying center of gravity which prevents it from falling over in less action-oriented poses. We did notice that on Han Solo (Stormtrooper Disguise) that the torso joint makes a clicking sound as you articulate it. For us, all this means is that the positions will hold their spots much more easily which is something that must have been updated, albeit quietly, for this sculpt. Will this figure still have the hole in its back for the invisible survival backpack? Yes. Will the double hinge-jointed elbows and knees create a very awkward aesthetic that just doesn’t look natural when utilized to the max? Perhaps. But for what this is, we are happy to report that this sculpt once again meets our expectations fully and we think that any retool and/or kit-bashed figure that uses it will be a fantastic figure in the end. Think about it. Hasbro could make a pretty awesome Spacetrooper (as seen in A New Hope). They could make the colorful Stormtroopers from The Force Unleashed (or maybe not – who knows anymore). But one thing is certain. And that’s Han Solo (Stormtrooper Disguise) is a The Black Series 6” figure that you should make a priority for your collection. It’s amazing.